DAYTON, Ohio – The Dayton Dutch Lions FC (0-5-5) scored first against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2-6-3) in front of 1000 fans, but the goal was not enough to catch the first win of the season, tying 1-1 at Careflight Field at Springboro High School after leading 1-0 in the 86th minute.
The previous matchup between the teams on April 21 saw the Lions defeated 2-0. Lions led in possession but equal shots between the teams in the first half resulted in a nil-nil tie at halftime. In the 6th minute, Eli Garner passed to Joel DeLass in the middle who sent a long high ball to Gibson Bardsley in the corner but Bardsley touched the ball to the Riverhound goalie Richard Gilstrap.
Gilstrap stopped another ball from Bardsley after a header from Gerrit Jan Bartels in the 15th minute. The pressure continued through the 45th minute when Mikael McNamara kicked the ball long to Bardsley, who got overexcited and kicked the ball high over the goal.
The second half saw more defensive action by the Lions with nine shots recorded by the Riverhounds and three saves by Matt Williams, who totaled six for the night.
Action picked up in the 78th minute when a corner by Bardsley found Nixon Dias who had a good look at goal but was blocked by a defender. The corner was then taken by McNamara and fell to Mettin Copier who touched it outside where Gregory Preciado missed the ball. The Pittsburgh tried to clear the ball but it was picked up by McNamara, who played a through ball to Eli Garner who went into the box and instead of shooting played it back to Mettin Copier who shot on goal with his left to make it 1-0 in the 79th minute.
The Lions finally seemed to pick up their first win of the season but again the the Riverhounds’ tied the game when Shintaro Harada equalized the score in the 86th minute off an assist by Nikola Katic. The Lions rallied but could not find the winning goal.
“The guys gave everything again,” said Coach Ivar Van Dinteren. “And again not a win. If I see the progress we make every week, I’m still happy. Pittsburgh is a more physical team than us. First half we outplayed them and the second half we had to go in and fight and we did well. For the guys that’s a little disappointing. It’s hard, but we keep fighting.”
Dayton will travel to face the LA Blues on June 15 and 17 while the women travel to play the Virginia Beach Piranhas June 12 and Fredericksburg Impact on June 14. Both the men and women will return home on Saturday June 23 in the third doubleheader of the season. The women play the Fredericksburg Impact at 5:30 p.m. and the men meet the Wilmington Hammerheads at 8 p.m. at Miami Valley South Stadium at Bellbrook High School.